The STRAIN family from which I descend, immigrated from Ireland in about 1760
and apparently landed in Philadelphia, though I have no documentation on this date and port.
After migrating through the Virginia and North Carolina colonies, they settled in
the upcountry hills of SC in 1763. At this time the area
was known as Granville District or described as the Long Canes, and then 96
District. Ultimately, the area became known as Abbeville.

The apparent head of this family was John Strain, Sr., who was granted 400
acres of land on a patent from King George III of England on 6 June 1766.
This land was originally filed for patent in SC on 18 May 1763, as one can see
by the date at the bottom of the Patent.

from the microfilm in the SCDAH.

Once established in Abbeville, John Strain, Sr. lives just
a few years. It is possible that his widow remarried, as his son Samuel
clearly states in his will that his minor children should never be under the
care of a stepfather, supporting a family tradition that he was raised by a
stepfather. As the children grew, they all actively participated in the
Revolutionary War, and at the conclusion of the fight for independence,
continued to purchase land, and participate in the affairs of the
Upper Long
Cane Presbyterian Church.

In Howe's "History of the Presbyterian Church in
South Carolina," the early family is mentioned as Shain in his text. This
is an obvious misreading of Howe in the manuscripts sent to him by Robert H.
Wardlaw, and I have often seen an entry for Strain mis-transcribed as Shain,
esp. when the "t" is not crossed, or is crossed too far to the right.
Several documents in the SCDAH are indexed as Shain, also. In addition,
there are no known families named Shain in the Abbeville area during the time
period in question, and it's quite documented that the Strain families were
there, esp. due to the
Constitution of the Upper Long Cane Society.

George Howe states on pages 549-550, of Vol. I:

Mr. Hall was ordained by the presbytery of South
Carolina, on the 27th day of July, 1785, at a stand on the middle ground between
the congregations of Upper Long Cane and Saluda (now Greenville). Mr.
(afterwards Dr.) Cummins presiding, preaching the sermon from Ezekiel xxxiii.,
7, and delivering the charges to the minister and people. Mr. Hall's
labors were greatly blessed to both congregations. To what is now called
Greenville church, twenty members were added at one communion season. The
elders in Upper Long Cane were Andrew Pickens, Andrew Hamilton, John McCord,
Hugh Reed, and Edward Pharr, perhaps others.

Among the names in these two congregations were those of
Shain, Reid, Lesly, Bowie, Pickens, Campbell, Jones, Watts, Rosamond, Seawright,
Wardlaw, &c., a considerable number of whom were settlers before the Indian war,
and the greater part actively sustained the cause of American independence.

Many of the above names were intermarried with the
Strains and all dealt with them in daily affairs of the community and
church. General Andrew Pickens purchases Samuel Strain's Revolutionary War
bounty; David Strain's grand daughter marries the son of Major Bowie; Robert H. Wardlaw becomes guardian to a descendant of a Strain; the Reids intermarry with
sisters-in-law of the Strains; and several Strains are married to the Watts
name. The names Wilson and Kyle interact heavily with my ancestors from
Abbeville, also.

There were many more names associated with the Strain
families during the nearly 50 years that most of them lived there. A detailed
study of the land grants and plats was done in 2001 by Richard McMurtry, and I
would highly encourage anyone with ancestors in this vicinity to purchase his
map to see where each family lived at that time. Richard's list of all the
settlers of long cane and the date they patented their land can be found at:

At the beginning of the 1800s, three of the Strain families
(Samuel, the widow of John, Jr. with her son John R. Strain, and David) migrated
through KY (Barren Co.) to Ohio. They first settled in Ross Co., and then finally
established themselves in Madison Township, Highland Co., OH. As their
sister ended up in Indiana soon after, it's also probable she and her husband
migrated at this time. By April of 1810, all three of these families were
charter members of the Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church. Their lives are
chronicled in the session books for this church, available at the Ohio State
Library in Columbus, OH.

James Strain (Killed in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Thicketty
Fort near Kings Mountain)

Samuel Strain m. 1) Watts 2) Miller 3) Wilson 4) Johnston

If you would like information on any of the above children of John
Strain, Sr., in addition to what I've posted on my ancestor David, please e-mail me for more information.
Although some information is posted here regarding them, I'll probably not get
to their lines for a long time. :-)